宣，去风湿
辛苦微温，有小毒。
治风湿拘挛痹痛（时珍曰∶古方治风痫，有茵芋丸；治风痹，有茵芋酒；治产后风，有
茵芋膏。风湿诸证多用之。茵芋、石南、莽草，皆治风妙品，近世罕知。莽草辛温有毒，治
头风痈肿乳痈疝瘕。苏颂曰∶古方风湿诸酒多用之，今人取叶煎汤热含，治牙虫喉痹甚效。
甄权曰∶不入汤）。
茎赤，叶如石榴而短浓，茎炙用。
补血，润燥，滑肠
甘温和血，辛温散内，苦温助心、散寒（诸血属心，凡通脉者，必先补心，当归苦温助
心）。入心、肝、脾（心生血，肝藏血，脾统血），为血中之气药。
治虚劳寒热，咳逆上气（血和则气降），温疟（厥阴肝邪） 痢（便血曰 ），头痛腰痛，
心腹诸痛（散寒和气），风痉无汗（痉音擎上声。身强项直，角弓反张曰痉。无汗为刚痉，
有汗为柔痉。当归辛散风，温和血。产后亦有发痉者，以脱血无以养筋也，宜十全大补汤），
痿痹症瘕（筋骨缓纵，足不任地曰痿；风寒湿客于肌肉、血脉曰痹；血凝气聚，按之坚硬曰
症；虽坚硬而聚散无常曰瘕，尚未至症也），痈疽疮疡，冲脉为病，气逆里急，带脉为病，
腹痛腰溶溶如坐水中（冲脉起于肾下，出于气街，挟脐上行，至胸中，上颃颡，渗诸阳，灌
诸经，下行入足，渗三阴，灌诸络，为十二经脉之海，主血。带脉横围于腰如束带，总约诸
脉），及妇人诸不足，一切血证，阴虚而阳无所附者。
润肠胃，泽皮肤，养血生肌（血旺则肉长），排脓止痛（血和则痛止）。然滑大肠，泻者
忌用（当归为君，白芍为臣，地黄为佐，芎 为使，名四物汤。治血之总剂，血虚佐以人参、
黄；血热佐以条芩、栀、连；血积佐以大黄、牵牛。昂按∶血属阴，四物能养阴，阴得其
养，则血自生，非四物能生血也。若气虚血弱之人，当用人参，取阳旺生阴血之义。多有过
服四物阴滞之药，而反致害者）。使气血各有所归，故名（血滞能通，血虚能补，血枯能润，
血乱能抚，盖其辛温能行气分，使气调而血和也。东垣曰∶头，止血而上行；身，养血而中
守；尾，破血而下流；全，活血而不走。雷 、海藏并曰∶头，破血。时珍曰∶治上用头，
治中用身，治下用尾，通治全用。一定之理也）。
川产力刚善攻，秦产力柔善补。以秦产头园尾多肥润气香者良，名马尾当归；尾粗坚枯
者，名 头当归，只宜发散用。治血酒制，有痰姜制（昂按∶当归非治痰药，姜制亦臆说耳）
。畏菖蒲、海藻、生姜。恶湿面。
Dispersing, removing wind-dampness.
Pungent and bitter, slightly warm, with slight toxicity.
Treats wind-dampness-induced spasms and bi-syndrome pain (Li Shizhen said: Ancient formulas for treating wind-epilepsy include Yin Yu Wan; for wind-bi, there is Yin Yu Jiu; for postpartum wind, there is Yin Yu Gao. It is widely used for various wind-dampness conditions. Yin Yu, Shi Nan, and Mang Cao are all excellent herbs for treating wind, but they are rarely known in modern times. Mang Cao is pungent, warm, and toxic, treating head-wind, carbuncles, mastitis, and hernia. Su Song said: Ancient formulas for wind-dampness wines often use it. Nowadays, people take its leaves, decoct them, and hold the hot liquid in the mouth to treat dental worms and throat obstruction very effectively. Zhen Quan said: It is not used in decoctions).
The stem is red, the leaves resemble pomegranate leaves but are shorter and denser; the stem should be processed by roasting before use.
Nourishing blood, moistening dryness, lubricating the intestines.
Sweet harmonizes blood, pungent-warm disperses internal pathogens, bitter-warm assists Heart Qi and dispels cold (All blood belongs to the Heart; whenever meridians are unblocked, the Heart must first be nourished; Dang Gui's bitter-warm nature assists the Heart). Enters the Heart, Liver, and Spleen meridians (Heart generates blood, Liver stores blood, Spleen controls blood); it is a Qi-moving herb within Blood-nourishing herbs.
Treats deficiency-labor with alternating chills and fever, coughing and rebellious Qi (when blood is harmonized, Qi descends), warm malaria (Jueyin Liver pathogen), dysentery (dysentery refers to bloody stool), headache and lower back pain, various pains of the heart and abdomen (dispelling cold and harmonizing Qi), wind-spasm without sweating ("Spasm" pronounced Qing, rising tone. Stiffness of the body and neck, opisthotonos is called spasm. Spasm without sweat is Gang-Jing; spasm with sweat is Rou-Jing. Dang Gui pungently disperses wind and warms harmonizes blood. Postpartum women may also suffer from spasm due to blood loss failing to nourish tendons; Shiquan Dabu Tang is suitable), atrophy and bi-syndrome, zheng and jia masses (flaccidity of sinews and bones, inability of feet to bear weight is called atrophy; wind-cold-dampness lodging in muscles and blood vessels is called bi; coagulated blood and gathered Qi, hard upon palpation, is called zheng; although hard, gathering and dispersing unpredictably is called jia, which has not yet reached the severity of zheng), carbuncles, ulcers, and sores, diseases of the Chong Mai (Penetrating Vessel) with rebellious Qi and interior tension, diseases of the Dai Mai (Girdle Vessel) with abdominal pain and a sensation of sitting in water in the lower back (Chong Mai originates below the kidney, emerges at Qichu point, ascends alongside the navel to the chest, reaches the pharynx, permeates Yang meridians, irrigates all channels, descends into the foot, permeates Yin meridians, irrigates collateral vessels, serving as the Sea of the Twelve Primary Meridians, governing blood. Dai Mai encircles the waist horizontally like a belt, summarily constraining all meridians), as well as various insufficiencies in women, all blood disorders, and cases of Yin deficiency where Yang has no foundation.
Moistens the stomach and intestines, nourishes the skin, nourishes blood and generates flesh (when blood is abundant, flesh grows), expels pus and stops pain (when blood is harmonized, pain ceases). However, it lubricates the large intestine, so it is contraindicated in diarrhea (Dang Gui is the Sovereign herb, Bai Shao is the Minister herb, Di Huang is the Assistant herb, Xiong Qiong is the Envoy herb, named Si Wu Tang. This is the general formula for treating blood. For blood deficiency, add Ren Shen and Huang Qi; for blood heat, add Huang Qin, Zhi Zi, and Lian Qiao; for blood stasis, add Da Huang and Qian Niu Zi. Wang Ang notes: Blood belongs to Yin; Si Wu Tang can nourish Yin. When Yin is nourished, blood naturally generates; it is not that Si Wu Tang itself generates blood. For those with Qi deficiency and weak blood, Ren Shen should be used, following the principle that robust Yang generates Yin blood. Many have suffered harm from overusing the cloying and stagnating properties of Si Wu Tang). It earns its name because it makes Qi and Blood return to their proper places (it unblocks blood stasis, tonifies blood deficiency, moistens blood dryness, and pacifies chaotic blood; generally, its pungent-warm nature moves Qi in the Qi level, ensuring Qi flows smoothly and blood harmonizes. Li Dongyuan said: The head stops bleeding and directs upward; the body nourishes blood and stays central; the tail breaks blood and directs downward; using the whole root invigorates blood without scattering. Lei Xiao and Zhang Yuansu both stated: The head breaks blood. Li Shizhen said: Use the head for upper body ailments, the body for middle body ailments, the tail for lower body ailments, and the whole root for general treatment. This is a fixed principle).
Those produced in Sichuan have strong potency and excel at attacking pathogens; those produced in Shaanxi (Qin) have mild potency and excel at tonification. The best quality comes from Shaanxi, characterized by round heads, many tails, plumpness, moisture, and fragrant aroma, named Ma Wei Dang Gui (Horse-tail Dang Gui); those with thick, hard, dry tails are named Gao Ben Tou Dang Gui, suitable only for dispersion. For treating blood disorders, process with wine; for phlegm, process with ginger (Wang Ang notes: Dang Gui is not a herb for treating phlegm; processing with ginger is also a speculative theory). It is inhibited by Chang Pu, Hai Zao, and Sheng Jiang. It dislikes damp flour.